Old/New Testament
4 (0) For the leader. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David:
2 (1) O God, my vindicator!
Answer me when I call!
When I was distressed, you set me free;
now have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.
3 (2) Men of rank, how long will you shame my honor,
love what is vain, chase after lies? (Selah)
4 (3) Understand that Adonai sets apart
the godly person for himself;
Adonai will hear when I call to him.
5 (4) You can be angry, but do not sin!
Think about this as you lie in bed,
and calm down. (Selah)
6 (5) Offer sacrifices rightly,
and put your trust in Adonai.
7 (6) Many ask, “Who can show us some good?”
Adonai, lift the light of your face over us!
8 (7) You have filled my heart with more joy
than all their grain and new wine.
9 (8) I will lie down and sleep in peace;
for, Adonai, you alone make me live securely.
5 (0) For the leader. On wind instruments. A psalm of David:
2 (1) Give ear to my words, Adonai,
consider my inmost thoughts.
3 (2) Listen to my cry for help,
my king and my God, for I pray to you.
4 (3) Adonai, in the morning you will hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my needs before you
and wait expectantly.
5 (4) For you are not a God
who takes pleasure in wickedness;
evil cannot remain with you.
6 (5) Those who brag cannot stand before your eyes,
you hate all who do evil,
7 (6) you destroy those who tell lies,
Adonai detests men of blood and deceivers.
8 (7) But I can enter your house
because of your great grace and love;
I will bow down toward your holy temple
in reverence for you.
9 (8) Lead me, Adonai, in your righteousness
because of those lying in wait for me;
make your way straight before me.
10 (9) For in their mouths there is nothing sincere,
within them are calamities,
their throats are open tombs,
they flatter with their tongues.
11 (10) God, declare them guilty!
Let them fall through their own intrigues,
For their many crimes, throw them down;
since they have rebelled against you.
12 (11) But let all who take refuge in you rejoice,
let them forever shout for joy!
Shelter them; and they will be glad,
those who love your name.
13 (12) For you, Adonai, bless the righteous;
you surround them with favor like a shield.
6 (0) For the leader. With stringed instruments. On sh’minit [low-pitched musical instruments?]. A psalm of David:
2 (1) Adonai, don’t rebuke me in your anger,
don’t discipline me in the heat of your fury.
3 (2) Be gracious to me, Adonai,
because I am withering away;
heal me, Adonai,
because my bones are shaking;
4 (3) I am completely terrified;
and you, Adonai — how long?
5 (4) Come back, Adonai, and rescue me!
Save me for the sake of your grace;
6 (5) for in death, no one remembers you;
in Sh’ol, who will praise you?
7 (6) I am worn out with groaning;
all night I drench my bed with tears,
flooding my couch till it swims.
8 (7) My vision is darkened with anger;
it grows weak because of all my foes.
9 (8) Get away from me, all you workers of evil!
For Adonai has heard the sound of my weeping,
10 (9) Adonai has heard my pleading,
Adonai will accept my prayer.
11 (10) All my enemies will be confounded,
completely terrified;
they will turn back
and be suddenly put to shame.
16 While Sha’ul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit within him was disturbed at the sight of the city full of idols. 17 So he began holding discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and the “God-fearers,” and in the market square every day with the people who happened to be there.
18 Also a group of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers started meeting with him. Some asked, “What is this babbler trying to say?” Others, because he proclaimed the Good News about Yeshua and the resurrection, said, “He sounds like a propagandist for foreign gods.” 19 They took and brought him before the High Council, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 Some of the things we are hearing from you strike us as strange, and we would like to know what they mean.” 21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners living there used to spend their spare time talking or hearing about the latest intellectual fads.)
22 Sha’ul stood up in the Council meeting and said, “Men of Athens: I see how very religious you are in every way! 23 For as I was walking around, looking at your shrines, I even found an altar which had been inscribed, ‘To An Unknown God.’ So, the one whom you are already worshipping in ignorance — this is the one I proclaim to you.
24 “The God who made the universe and everything in it, and who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in man-made temples; 25 nor is he served by human hands, as if he lacked something; since it is he himself who gives life and breath and everything to everyone.
26 “From one man he made every nation living on the entire surface of the earth, and he fixed the limits of their territories and the periods when they would flourish. 27 God did this so that people would look for him and perhaps reach out and find him although in fact, he is not far from each one of us, 28 ‘for in him we live and move and exist.’ Indeed, as some of the poets among you have said, ‘We are actually his children.’ 29 So, since we are children of God, we shouldn’t suppose that God’s essence resembles gold, silver or stone shaped by human technique and imagination.
30 “In the past, God overlooked such ignorance; but now he is commanding all people everywhere to turn to him from their sins. 31 For he has set a Day when he will judge the inhabited world, and do it justly, by means of a man whom he has designated. And he has given public proof of it by resurrecting this man from the dead.”
32 At the mention of a resurrection of dead people, some began to scoff; while others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” 33 So Sha’ul left the meeting. 34 But some men stayed with him and came to trust, including the High Council member Dionysius; there was also a woman named Damaris; and others came to trust along with them.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.